


Of superheroes and flower shops

by lilllac



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Awkward Flirting, F/M, Fluff, Pining, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Ty Lee and Mai are best friends, Zuko and Azula are pretty chill with each other, Zuko has a loving family, except for Ozai of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22836457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac
Summary: Zuko meets the girl of his dreams at a hospital, but the story is not at all as sad as it sounds.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 116





	Of superheroes and flower shops

**Author's Note:**

> I think they're cute.  
> English is not my first language, so all mistakes are my own. I hope it's still enjoyable.

Dr. Kya had worked at the towns' hospital for children ever since graduating from college. She liked the place, the staff, and especially, she liked working around kids. She had two of them, Sokka and Katara, who she often took with her to work. Katara, especially, loved the hospital, and Kya already saw in her daughter the same enthusiasm that she had with the profession at that age. 

There was a sad part of the job, too. The internalized wing, mainly. But Kya liked to believe that all those children were doing their best to overcome those situations and that they would come out stronger and more mature.

During the early part of the summer, she was appointed to care for a new patient. When she arrived at the hospital in the morning, she was told by the nurse in charge that the little boy had arrived the night before, accompanied by his mother, and unconscious. A second degree burns, on the left side of his face.

After carefully reading the boy's file, she left for the room where he was being kept. As soon as she opened the door, she saw a beautiful woman sleeping on a chair, her face resting on the mattress. Gently, she approached, touching her shoulder and calling, in a soft voice:

"Ma'am?".

The woman jumped up and blinked beautiful brown eyes at the doctor. She had an incredible beauty, stunning even, but Kya recognized the dark circles and lines from tiredness on her pretty face. The pair of almond-shaped eyes still looked scared.

"I'm so sorry," she said, sounding, although upset, very polite. "I did not..."

"It's no problem" Dr. Kya assured. Then she looked briefly at the boy lying on the bed, still asleep: "Is he your son?".

"Yes".

"Could you explain to me what happened to him? I read the file, but it seems that not much was explained yesterday, which is understandable, but ...".

"It was an accident," she seemed to swallow. "My husband ... my ex-husband," she corrected herself.

Kya frowned. The woman looked stiff, angry, and at the same time sad. She decided not to press it. Such matters could be resolved later.

"It says here that he arrived with you and another man. Was it his father?".

"No, his uncle. He brought us here, but he had to go back to ..." she hesitated "to resolve some leftover issues. But he ought to be back before lunch".

Kya nodded. She looked back at the boy who was sleeping soundly.  
His left eye was covered with a large bandage, and Kya resented the event. She wasn't sure if it would be possible for the boy to leave with his face completely restored.

She checked his blood pressure, sedatives and other details, and left the room, sighing to herself. The woman remained seated in the chair next to her son and refused to go out to eat, so Kya fetched a cup of hot coffee and a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria and left it with her.

Michi checked for what felt like the hundredth time the ties in her daughter's hair, while Ukano was yelling at someone on the phone. Mai suppressed a grunt, and let her mother undo her hairstyle just to redo it again.

This was one of the "visiting days" which meant that Mai needed to keep quiet - and put up with her parents' eccentricity. When she heard the bell ring, she pulled away from her mother and ran for the door. Anything to get you out of that situation.

She cordially greeted the two of politicians waiting outside for her, and then the six almost identical girls who entered her house in a single line, trying not to let on that she had no idea what any of their names were.

The last one, as she had predicted, jumped into her arms.

Mai, although resigned, wrapped her in an unenthusiastic hug. Ty Lee moved far enough away that the other girl could see her face: covered in flashy makeup, decorated with a clown nose.

"I'm so excited!" she hummed, entering the house. "Visiting days are always so cool!".

"Sure they are" Mai murmured.

For Ty Lee, they were. The girl, Mai knew, loved the idea of helping to cheer people up, and her favorite way to do that was with the rest of the organization (previously an NGO, before it started receiving political support) that performed at children's hospitals to entertain the kids. Although Mai certainly admired the initiative, she knew that there was nothing altruistic about the motivations behind her family's participation: Ukano, her father, as well as Ty Lee's father, was a relatively influential and popular politician, and sought to further increase his popularity through media appearances in which he was photographed or filmed doing good deeds “spontaneously”. Michi and Ty Lee's mother insisted that the children also go along.  
For this reason, Mai, Ty Lee (and her six identical sisters that Mai didn't really care about) accompanied their parents in their charitable actions.

"Girls! Come on, we don't have all day" Michi shouted from the garage. "And Mai, bring the comb! Your hair looks awful".

Iroh returned, surprisingly, with a calm expression. Ursa remembered how he had looked when his niece called him the night before and informed the situation. The man had entered his brother's mansion like a dragon, slamming doors and demanding explanations. Ursa had never seen him so violent and ready to take justice into his own hands. Anyway, he had decided that Zuko's situation was much more urgent than dealing with Ozai. Lu Ten, who had accompanied him, called a taxi and took his cousin home - Ursa did not think she was in a position to stay with her brother, shocked as she was - while Iroh and Ursa waited for the ambulance.

The old man put a folder on his lap. Ursa looked at him, confused, and he replied:

"Open it".

The woman was tired, but she did. Her eyes swallowed the words without really understanding their meanings until she came to one that made her wake up from her torpor.

"Divorce?".

Iroh explained that the next day, when she was more rested, and Zuko was awake, two lawyers would come to the hospital to learn more about the details. He was completely sure that there was no way Ozai could win this situation, no matter how influential and powerful he was.

Ursa ended up crying. Iroh comforted her with a friendly hug.  
They were tears of relief.

When Zuko woke up, he was dizzy. He felt something covering the left side of his face, and he couldn't blink that eye. It took him a few moments to fully regain consciousness. The ceiling and walls were unfamiliar to him. Everything was. He was lost for an instant until he recognized the beep that resonated throughout the room.

He was in a hospital.

He looked to the side and found his sister staring at him, sitting in what didn't seem like a very comfortable chair. When Zuko's gaze met hers, Azula immediately fished out the book she had opened on her lap and pretended to be reading. Only after a few uncomfortable silent moments did she clear her throat and ask:

"Are you awake?".

"I am" Zuko replied. "What happened?".

Zuko was happy that it was his sister there, not his mother. Ursa would hesitate, and probably try to paint a less grotesque picture of events in order to protect him.

Azula would not do that. She wasn't empathetic enough.  
But even she seemed a little hesitant to say:

"Dad burned you with the clothing iron. Uncle and Lu Ten ran to the house when I called and now ..." she stopped. "Well, now you're here".

"Zuko looked back at the ceiling".

"Yes. Now I'm here".

Azula left to call the doctor, and Zuko was silent for a moment. The sedatives were working, as he hardly felt pain where he knew he was burned. It felt numb, actually.

While no one entered the room, Zuko fantasized about a complete recovery, which would give him the right to live without a hideous scar on his face for the rest of his life.

He didn't really believe that, though.

Kya soon realized that the boy - Zuko - was a strong one. He did not complain at any time about the pain, even when the dosage of sedatives started to decrease. She saw him, making faces and growling softly in pain, but she didn't hear him complain. When his mother was with him in the room - almost always - he even smiled.

It was an interesting family. Kya's two children were always fighting and reconciling. Sokka was extremely protective of Katara, although he did not admit it. Zuko and his sister, however, were different.  
They fought, but not so much. They teased each other like no one else, but it never escalated. Azula laid next to her brother on the bed, occupying almost all the space on purpose, and did not care when Zuko complained, saying he was the patient, not her.

When Kya thought they were about to really fight, Azula suddenly asked if he had read the last chapter of some comic book, and they completely forgot the argument they were in, starting to talk about the superheroes as seriously as anyone would talk about stock exchanges or the latest scientific discovery.

Their uncle laughed, played games and brought tea from home, in a thermos. There was also their cousin, Lu Ten, much older than them. A young military man with kind eyes and a kind smile, who looked a lot like his cousins. He was extremely courteous to everyone at the hospital and had already won over some fans among nurses and even doctors. He brought magazines and books on every visit.

Zuko's recovery was going well. Kya had been right when she thought it would be impossible to perfectly reconstruct that part of his face. The last time he changed the dressing, the angry red had given way to a lighter shade, less aggressive, but remained the same size.

The father never came. Shortly thereafter, Ursa - the women had become good friends - confided that she was, in fact, the wife of an important businessman and that she was in the middle of a divorce process. And that, hopefully, Ozai would never again have the right to approach his children - much less visit Zuko at the hospital.

She didn't say, but Kya could read on her face: Not after what he did to him.

An accidental encounter in a corridor and a random comment from a nurse made her have an idea. She went to the reception and asked for the necessary information. After a brief phone call, everything was arranged. She smiled to herself.

Zuko was still hospitalized but was allowed to walk through the hospital. Azula was still dressed in her school uniform when Zuko insisted that they take a walk around the place. She asked what could possibly be interesting in a hospital to which he replied with a "stop being boring".

"Hey, what's that over there?" He pulled her by the sleeve.  
Azula turned to look in the direction he was pointing. They had approached the hospital's recreational area, and several children were sitting on the floor, watching something. Zuko saw several of them with dressings similar - or bigger - than his and assumed they were also hospitalized.

"It's a show" Azula concluded. "Look".

Two adults, with make-up with cat whiskers on their faces and colorful clothes, did what looked like an extremely complicated juggling. A little girl, who seemed to be the same age as he, if not a little less, walked with her hands, feet suspended in the air. Zuko watched, impressed. Azula didn't look that amazed. 

"Big deal," she shrugged.

"Now!" A woman announced when the tricks stopped. She paused dramatically, and Zuko noticed how beautiful her smile was. "The magician!".

"Do you want to watch?" A familiar voice came from behind them.

Zuko turned and found Kya watching them, hands tucked in her coat pockets and an amused smile.

"It's a group of volunteers," she explained. "They always come here. Go on. It's pretty cool, I guarantee it".

Azula opened her mouth - probably to disagree - but Zuko pulled her by the hand, dragging her with him:  
"Come on," he insisted. "I want to see the magician". 

Mai made friends easily with Azula. She - unlike her brother - seemed as bored and annoyed by having to be there as Mai was, and they had fun criticizing the tricks and finding flaws in the presentations (all in a low, murmured voice).

"What does your brother have?" She asked at last.

Azula was silent.

"You don't have to answer if...-".

Instead, Azula nudged the boy with her elbow. He seemed annoyed that he needed to divert his attention from the show, but he consented when Azula asked if she was allowed to tell, though a little hesitantly.

"Our father burned him," she said, deliberately. "But it's okay. Mom and Uncle Iroh will never let him come near us again".

There was a sparkle in her golden eyes - somewhat defiant as if she were willing to face her father if necessary - and Mai thought she could get used to it.

The girl who could walk with her hands was called Ty Lee, he found out - because she approached him after the show and smiled so cutely that Zuko was a little out of breath. He felt his heart beating faster, and he scolded himself immediately.

Apparently, that smile was not that special, because Azula received an equal one (Zuko thought he deserved it much more because at least he did not greet her in the driest and most formal tone he had ever heard from his sister's mouth).

And, it seemed, she was also friends with her sister's newest acquaintance. She jumped on the girl as soon as she approached, and the one with the black hair and bangs sighed heavily, looking not too pleased by the gesture. Ty Lee swore that Mai was a great juggler and that she just didn't participate in the performances with them because she was too stubborn.

When Kya went to get Zuko to change the dressing, she found him eating ice cream at the cafeteria with his sister and two other girls. Seeing him laughing and talking so happily, she wanted to leave him there for just a few more minutes.

In the end, she had to call him. He and Azula said goodbye to the girls and went to her. Kya noticed that Zuko looked different. His cheeks were red as if he had laughed too much.

Kya smiled.

Zuko was a strong boy.

Kya assured him that he only needed two more weeks with the dressing. The scar was getting better every day, and Zuko even didn't care about it that much. He could still see with his left eye, anyway. He no longer received sedatives directly into his veins, and instead, he only needed to take two painkillers a day, which meant that, once fully healed, the mark would not even cause him pain, or discomfort.

Zuko decided that, from then on, he would see the scar as a symbol of the strength he had had to endure it all.

Mai and Ty Lee had become constant visitors. The group only visited the hospital once a month, but the two were always there.

Ty Lee was lively, smiling, friendly and made him laugh with the greatest ease in the world. She was always very nice to him, but Zuko couldn't help noticing that, every time she told a joke, it was at Azula that she looked at.

Mai, on the contrary, hardly laughed and spoke even less. But somehow, Zuko liked her presence.

Mai was beautiful.

Like, really beautiful.

Ty Lee had presented him with a bouquet of yellow roses that morning, and Zuko was surprised when she revealed that it was Mai who had arranged the flowers.

"My grandmother works in a flower shop" she shrugged, but Zuko noticed her looking away. "It's not that big of a deal".

Suddenly taken by an idea, Zuko took a flower from the bouquet and, very delicately, placed it in the girl's hair. Mai blinked, silent, and they stood there. For some reason, Zuko couldn't look away from the girl's flushed face and shy bright eyes.

With two weeks to go before Zuko was finally discharged, Lu Ten visited him with a bag full of the new volumes of his favorite comics and said:

"I think she likes you".

Zuko almost spit out the tea he was drinking.

"Who?".  
"The one with the black hair".

Zuko denied it vehemently, and Lu Ten laughed until Zuko's face turned red. When his cousin left, Zuko murmured that it didn't make any sense.

"How come that doesn't make sense? Are you crazy?" Azula raised her eyebrows. She was lying next to him on the bed, and Zuko had let slip while reading the comic, what Lu Ten had said. "It looks like she fancies you".

Not knowing what to do, Zuko pushed her off the bed.

Somehow, dealing with an angry Azula was less frightening than dealing with ... feelings.

Zuko swallowed his shame and asked for help from his cousin. After a good laugh, Lu Ten agreed, and the next day, he showed up at the hospital with a beautiful dark thin box, which Zuko kept cared for very diligently. His cousin ruffled his hair and wished him well.

In Zuko's last week at the hospital, Kya was even more proud. The boy talked about going back to school, enrolling in judo and learning how to cook again. Azula rolled her eyes and said he was too excited for someone who was still in the hospital, but Kya saw her smiling.

Ursa and Iroh thanked her every day.

Kya was telling them that they didn't have to thank her. Zuko was a fighter.

With four days to go, Mai visited him - alone.

(Well, not quite. She was with her parents at that time, and Zuko had to put up with a good twenty minutes of her father's speech with the best polite smile that he managed to put on his face before they finally left, but he decided he wouldn't be put down by such details).

Azula had an important taekwondo competition that afternoon, so she couldn't go. They talked - or rather, Mai heard him chattering about comic books and superheroes that she had no idea existed - and Zuko invited her to the cafeteria, very proud of himself for not having wasted the money that Lu Ten had given him.

He paid for two ice cream cones.

And accidentally dropped one of them on her.

Mai closed her eyes, shook the ice cream from her skirt and said it was okay.

Zuko followed, walking behind and feeling stupid.

The next day, Azula and Ty Lee were there.

They walked through the hospital gardens together, until Azula pulled Ty Lee by the arm and said she needed to speak to her - and Zuko pretended not to notice what his sister was trying to do.

Determined not to embarrass himself at that time, Zuko very boldly held the girl's hand. Mai looked at him.

Zuko was not that confident. He kept his eyes fixed ahead as Mai watched him.

"Zuko, look ..."

Immediately, he released her hand. Mai's tone was enough. Azula and Lu Ten were actually having fun at his expense, and Mai felt absolutely nothing for him. Feeling even more stupid, he said:

"It's ok. I apologize. I should have known there was no way for a girl like you to like me, I just ...".

"No, Zuko..." she interrupted him. Raising a hand, she pointed somewhere just above his shoulder: "It's just ... well, I think some birds around here needed to use the bathroom".

Zuko turned his face away, trying to see the field of vision that the dressing covered, and saw, over his shoulder ...

"EW! YUCK!".

Zuko ran back to change clothes and, although his ears were burning with embarrassment, he thought it was worth it.

Mai was laughing.

And her laugh was beautiful.

On Thursday, Zuko turned thirteen. Lu Ten gave him two new games, Ursa and Iroh gave him a collector's edition from the series of books he liked so much and Azula pretended to forget. A few hours later, when Ursa left to fetch the cake, Azula took a silver package out of her backpack, which Zuko turned to pieces in a few minutes while Lu Ten chuckled.

Azula pushed him away when he tried to hug her. It was a new black and red Jersey jacket with a detailed dragon design on the back. Azula ran out of the room to "help her mother" and Iroh revealed that the girl had saved her allowance for months to be able to buy the piece.

When Ursa returned - with Dr. Kya together - Zuko let them take pictures of him, even with the bandage, while he blew out the candles and cried. Kya congratulated him on being so strong and then gave him a watch as a gift.

When the day was over and Zuko couldn't help but feel sad when he realized that neither Mai nor Ty Lee had shown up, Lu Ten opened the door to the room, carrying a box wrapped in gift paper.

"Another one?".

"It's not mine," he said. "The receptionist told me they left it there".

Zuko read the paper stuck in the packaging:

“Azula said that today is supposed to be your birthday. Today was my assessment on the gym team, and Mai had a chess championship, so we couldn't go, but we hope you like it! - Ty Lee ”.

Upon opening the box, Zuko found an action figure of his favorite hero. He frowned, and only then did he remember.

He had never talked to Ty Lee about comic books.

"Ready?" Kya asked.

Zuko nodded. They were all there. Ursa and Uncle Iroh. Azula and Lu Ten. Ty Lee. Mai. Everyone watching him, full of expectation. Dr. Kya removed the dressing for the last time.

Zuko looked at himself in the mirror reflection his cousin was holding. The scar was not pretty, but it could be worse, he decided. However, he was suddenly ashamed. Ty Lee and Mai had never seen their skin under the bandage.

He didn't want to think about it, but ...

"Congratulations" Azula hit him in the shoulder. She and Lu Ten hugged him awkwardly "you made it".

Zuko smiled, accepting the hug.

It was Sunday afternoon, and Zuko and his cousin had just finished tidying up the room. From then on, he would share a room with Lu Ten in his uncle's apartment, while his mother and sister would share another. Ursa, Azula and Iroh were in the kitchen, preparing lunch.

"I got it!" Zuko shouted, and ran for the door. He heard his cousin laughing behind him, but he didn't understand why.

Zuko didn't know who to expect when he opened the door, but Mai was certainly not at the top of his list. The girl was there, however, holding a bouquet of white flowers - lilies.

"Hey" she greeted, and Zuko thought he saw a beginning of a smile at the corners of his lips.

"Hey," he said back, a little out of breath.

They looked at each other for a moment, in silence. Zuko only noticed that Ty Lee was also there when she jumped between two and wrapped him in a bear hug:

"We came to congratulate you for making it! Your mother sent us your home address".

Ursa appeared behind Zuko, inviting the girls to enter. Mai and Ty Lee joined them during the meal. Lu Ten then ran to fetch the notebook in his room - it was a tradition, he insisted, to watch a movie after lunch.

Azula pushed him before he could escape to her side, and Lu Ten helped. Zuko ended up sitting next to Mai. He felt vindicated when he noticed that Azula had ended up sitting next to Ty Lee, and looked as embarrassed as he did, although she was much better at hiding it.

When Mai's parents arrived to pick her up and her friend, Zuko and Azula offered to accompany them to the parking lot. As the elevator descended, Zuko felt the box he had procured from the closet weighing in his pocket. He nudged Azula discreetly, and the girl got the message. She pulled Ty Lee by the hand more quickly, and when Mai sped up her pace to follow them, Zuko gathered all his courage to hold her gently by the wrist.

"Zuko?"

"I, yeah, I ..." he stammered. "I would like to finish saying what I was trying to tell you that day".

Mai raised her eyebrows.

"When the bird ..."

"Yes!" Zuko replied, blushing up to his ears. "I ..." he hesitated.

Mai looked at him with such expectation that he felt his knees tremble. He swallowed once and then cleared his throat. He took a flower from his bouquet in his left pocket, and, ignoring the fact that it was completely dented, placed it in Mai's hair.

His hands were shaking.

"Zuko ..." Her voice seemed, somehow, to be shaking too.  
"I would like to give you that".

He reached into the other pocket for the little box. He opened it, revealing a delicate silver metal bracelet. It wasn't flashy, nor very valuable, but Zuko hoped she liked it.

"I think you are beautiful," he said, looking at her. "And ... and I like you. Quite. So if ... if you ...".

"If I?".  
"If you like me too," he added. "Please accept this".

Mai was silent. Shee was silent for so long, that Zuko felt like his lunch was doing pirouettes in his stomach. And then, he closed the velvet box and wrapped his hand around hers.

In the next second, her lips were on his cheek. Zuko felt as if his knees had turned into pudding. She had a hand lightly on his shoulder, and he saw, sideways, that she needed to stand on her tiptoes to reach his face.

"You are an idiot," she said, red-faced, and a smile. "I'll be back tomorrow. Bye Zuko".

She left, to where her father had parked the car, and Zuko babbled something that even he didn't understand. Azula came up from behind a column and ran to him.

"So what?".

He was going to answer something.

And then he realized that she had taken the box.

"I think I have a girlfriend".

During the entire trip back to the apartment, Zuko couldn't stop thinking about the girl, the bouquets, and the sensation of her lips on his face.

Good heavens, he was stupid, he concluded.

Stupid and in love. And, well, at least, Mai was too.


End file.
